5 Inexpensive Book Marketing Tips and Great Links

I’m getting closer to finishing my debut book and am beginning to compile information on self-publishing and marketing. I came across a post on The Savvy Book Marketer, written by guest Susan Daffron, a book and software publisher.

Some people spend a fortune on promoting a new book, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Daffron’s list has some interesting ideas that cost next-to-nothing. This is a full repost from Dana Lynn Smith’s blog. I hope it helps you get the word out about your book.

Five Inexpensive Ways to Market Your Book

1. Outsource the “little stuff.”

Many book-marketing tasks require collateral material like banners or simple graphics. If you’re not an artist and don’t have good design tools, doing little blog badges or even working with your book cover graphics can take way longer than it should. For small tasks, check out Fiverr.com. Amazingly enough, everything costs just $5.

2. Create simple videos.

Many people avoid video and YouTube because they’re worried about the technology or they don’t like what they look like. However, it’s easy to create a video that doesn’t require fancy technology or your face. For example, I experimented with a Book Publishing Dog Walk Q &A video. The video is me walking my dog, Fiona, through the forest (it’s fun to watch her little tail bob along). You don’t see me and I didn’t have to worry about sounding out of breath as I toddled through the forest because I did the voice over separately. A video I did for my Vegan Success cookbook didn’t even involve a video camera. I used still photos and transitions with a voice over. It’s not as hard as you might think.

3. Do audio recordings.

Like video, audio isn’t as difficult as you might expect. I do a podcast/radio show for the PetLifeRadio.com network. I have a little device called a QuickTap from JKAudio that plugs into my phone, so I can record interviews with people at animal shelters and rescues about the pets they have available for adoption. Alternatively, you can get a radio show on BlogTalk radio. You can do one 30-minute show per week for free.

4. Communicate via email.

Periodically you hear that email is dead. Except it’s not. You still send and receive email don’t you? Email newsletters are a great way to communicate with people on a particular topic. On your website either give away a freebie like an eCourse or PDF or just let people subscribe to your blog posts. One way or another, you’ll develop a mailing list of people you can communicate with when something happens related to your book. Remember to post links to those posts or newsletters in social media.

5. Advertise on your own websites.

This idea is so obvious, I’m not sure why more people don’t do it. If you have a blog, put an advertisement for your book on the blog. Or at the end of your articles, include a little teaser text ad for your book. Sure banner ads don’t get many click-throughs, but even if you only got one book sale per month from your ad, that’s 12 books you wouldn’t have sold. And it costs you exactly nothing.

The most expensive idea on this list costs all of $5; the rest are $0. When it comes to book marketing, every little bit helps. All these activities work together to increase awareness about you and your book. And in the end, that means more book sales.

About the Author

Susan Daffron, aka The Book Consultant owns a book and software publishing company. She spends most of her time writing, laying out books in InDesign, or taking her five dogs out for romps in the forest. She also teaches people how to write and publish profitable client-attracting books and puts on the Self-Publishers Online conference every May.

A big thank you goes out to Dana Lynn Smith-The Savvy Book Marketer, and Susan Daffron-The Book Consultant!

Did you find anything helpful there? Many of you are already using a couple of these ideas but, here are more links to try:

Podcast: Book Marketing and Promotion, Your Questions Answered, by Joanna Penn.

Content marketing for Authors and Writers, by Joanna Penn

89 Book Marketing Ideas That Will Change Your Life, by Author Media

And a whole page of article links, Learn How To Market Your Book and Yourself, by The Savvy Book Marketer

One behind-the-scenes area that a lot of authors pay little attention to is their author biography. Some authors have trouble writing about themselves in a creative way. Mine needs a complete overhaul which gave me the idea to include a couple of links to help myself and others with that task. Did you realize the ‘About’ page rivals your posts for page views?

Is Your Author ‘About Me’ Page Boring Your Readers To Death?, by Author Media

Crafting An Effective “About me” Page, by Kelsey Browning at Author E.M.S.

 

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Thanks for joining me today!